Harvard University graduate design studio visits Abu Dhabi for research initiative on Al Qattara Oasis in Al Ain

This undertaking, sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), results from Abu Dhabi's interest in establishing in this exceptional location an important cultural, educational and research institution devoted to the study, production and advancement of the Arts, Crafts and Design traditions of the Emirates and beyond.

It is also aligned with the ADACH Strategic Plan target to prepare management plans for Al Ain's oasis areas. The studio will prepare a publication presenting their findings to ADACH later this year.

This campus project would serve to open up the discussion about new design strategies that can begin to re-organize the residual spaces around the Oasis, in order to accommodate a wide variety of programs that can provide a new lease on life to Al Qattara, and incorporate a new urban framework for its edges.

The team of 25 Harvard design students, lead by Architects: Jorge Silvetti, Professor of Architecture, and Felipe Correa, Assistant Professor of Urban Design, is currently visiting Abu Dhabi and Al Ain as part of an official site visit. The purpose of the trip is to gather additional information on the Oases, and the city, and have a first hand experience of Al Qattara.

The research team is made up of advanced standing students from three distinct disciplines, Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design.

Throughout the Spring semester, the students will conceive a number of well tempered strategies that envision the introduction of the aforementioned campus. In doing so, we aim at unfolding a broader constellation of projects, that in summation provide manifold alternative visions for a site that is quite unique from a cultural and an ecological perspective.

During this visit, faculty and students presented preliminary research to ADACH officials, and held a series of information sessions in order to establish a clear dialogue amongst all agents involved.